Tuesday, July 26, 2011

First Dreamliner Delivery Expected in September

Seattle Post Intelligencer: Boeing 787 Dreamliner launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) will get its first 787 in September and start commercial flights about a month later, the airline said Monday.

Boeing’s latest guidance was that it expected to deliver the first 787 to ANA in August or September. Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said Monday that the company will not update its guidance before Wednesday, when it releases second-quarter earnings.

FlightBlogger reported Monday that Boeing aims to deliver the first 787 in around the third week of September and is unlikely to deliver more than five or six 787s this year, down from 12 to 20, because reworking and outfitting planes is taking longer than expected. FlightBlogger also reported that Boeing is almost certain to delay first 787-9 delivery by three to six months, into early 2014.

The first commercial flight of a 787 will be a charter run from Tokyo Narita Airport to Hong Kong about a month after it gets the plane, ANA said. It said any customer will be able to get on the flight as part of a special package tour it is arranging.

ANA plans to follow that first flight up with two hour-long excursion flights, departing and landing at Narita, available to frequent flyers and Mileage Card members. It said it will add details later to its 787 Dreamliner website.

After these special flights, ANA plans to use the first 787 on a domestic route: from Tokyo Haneda Airport to either Okayama or Hiroshima.